This invention relates generally to a device for preventing the theft of a vehicle or other key operated device and more particularly to a light easily portable but relatively strong assembly for holding and securing a key therein so as to render the key temporarily non-usable.
The present invention is particularly applicable to the ignition keys of automobiles that are parked for varying periods of time at a parking facility particularly those which have a valet type parking facility. It is common practice for the attendant to receive the customer's automobile with the ignition key therein, park the customer's automobile, and secret the key within the car until the customer returns where upon the attendant will return to the parked automobile, locate the secreted key and then drive the automobile back to the waiting customer.
The reason for leaving the ignition key in the car is for convenience and to save the time that an attendant must expend in checking the key and retrieving the key in order to return the car to the customer.
If the ignition key of a customer is checked, it requires a tag and a secure place to store the key such as in an office which is policed at all times and further requires that the checked key be available at all times when the customer returns for the car.
Where the key is checked it is clear that the attendant is required either to take the key from the particular rack or obtain it from the person responsible for policing the secured keys.
Management has determined that this practice does not always work because despite the security, keys are either misplaced, mistagged or even lost during the handling thereof. Additionally, checking causes a large expenditure of the attendant's time in both bringing the ignition key in to be checked and for retrieving the key when the customer needs the automobile and this therefor makes it necessary to have additional attendants and increases the overhead of the parking facility operation.
However, if an ignition key is left in the parked automobile the incidence of non-professional car theft goes up drastically to the extent that parking facilities must now be substantially self insurers of vehicles parked in their parking facility.
Accordingly, the management of parking facilities particularly those where the ignition keys are left with the parked automobile have made efforts to provide simple relatively, low cost devices for securing the ignition key within such parked cars against tampering, which devices at the same time can be easily carried and utilized by the attendants.
One such device consisted of a cast aluminum box with a shackle and a cover that could be locked and unlocked. The shackle acted to lock the box about the ignition keys located on the steering wheel. These devices were cumbersome and further could not be used where the ignition keys were located on the dashboard of the automobile such as occurs in automobiles of foreign manufacture.
The detachable key securing assembly in accordance with the present invention seeks to overcome the problems of prior art devices by providing a compact relatively light portable but strong assembly which grips the key in a manner rendering the key temporarily non-usable until the assembly is again detached from the key or conveniently the key is released so it can be removed from the key securing assembly.